The show, WEC 53, takes place Dec. 16 at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz., and features a lightweight title showdown between current champion Benson Henderson and challenger Anthony Pettis.

Palaszewski vs. Shalorus is expected to be part of the night’s Versus-televised main card.

Both 155-pounders look to impress before their weight class is absorbed by the WEC’s sister promotion, the UFC, in January.

Palaszewski is on a roll now that he’s in his second WEC stint. After leaving the IFL and making a single appearance with Adrenaline MMA, the Illinois-based fighter first joined the WEC. He then scored a TKO of Alex Karalexis in his promotional debut but then suffered losses to Ricardo Lamas and Anthony Njokuani. It was part of a disappointing and career-worst 2-5 skid for the fighter.

But since then, Palaszewski picked up a win in an outside promotion and followed it with recent WEC victories over over current top contender Pettis, Karen Darabedyan and Zach Micklewright.

He goes for five straight wins against Shalorus, who fights for the first time since a baffling split draw with Jamie Varner at WEC 49. Due to multiple groin shots that prompted a one-point deduction from Shalorus, the fight ultimately was scored 29-27, 27-29 and 28-28.

Prior to the that bout, the Iranian fighter posted entertaining wins over Will Kerr at WEC 44 and Dave Jensen at WEC 46 in his first two promotional bouts.

The latest WEC 53 card now includes:

MAIN CARD

Champ Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis (for lightweight title)

Champ Dominick Cruz vs. Scott Jorgensen (for bantamweight title)

Donald Cerrone vs. Chris Horodecki

Bart Palaszewski vs. Kamal Shalorus

Shane Roller vs. Jamie Varner

PRELIMINARY CARD

Ivan Menjivar vs. Brad Pickett

Danny Castillo vs. Will Kerr

Renan Barao vs. Chris Cariaso

Danny Downes vs. Tiequan Zhang*

Yuri Alcantara vs. Ricardo Lamas*

* – Not officially announced

For the latest on WEC 53, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

Ronda Rousey’s statistical greatness has already ventured into uncharted territory – just six fights into her UFC career. Check out all the post-fight facts, including Rousey’s latest achievements, about UFC 190.

UFC champion Ronda Rousey did it again when she smashed Bethe Correia in 34 seconds at UFC 190. But after her third straight opponent tries and fails to make it out of the first minute, the world’s best female fighter needs a better dance partner.